Ready to Visit Beale St

I am planning a short weekend away for with my mom to celebrate her birthday... neither of us has ever visited Memphis, so away we go.  I don't know why, but I always thought that she wanted to visit Graceland.  It just made sense; and honestly, I am not against the idea either.  I am curious about the Graceland experience.  I really don't have expectations, but imagine I am in for a tour that is a cross between a historical mansion tour (like you get in Newport Rhode Island) and the White House.

Of course, you can't make an entire weekend about just Graceland... and there seems to be plenty to do that will occupy a few days.  A little over a year ago, I took a date to see the musical "Million Dollar Quartet."  It was the last night at Sun Records Studio.... before my time, but that doesn't mean that I don't love that music... and you can go on a tour of Sun Records while in Memphis.  Add that to my list!!!

Of course we will be heading to Beale Street.  I think that is a Memphis requirement.  One of the most famous streets in the US, Beale is full of music and BBQ.   Have been to many famous strips - Vegas's Strip/Las Vegas Blvd, NOLA's Bourbon, Key West's Duval, Chicago's Miracle Mile, NYC's 5th Ave & Broadway, Philly's South St, LA's Mulholland Dr & Sunset Blvd, Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas, Miami's Ocean Dr.... I could go on.  So, you have to wonder, do most cities have a strip, a street where it is "the" place to see?  Just from this small list, I can tell you that not all famous streets are the same.  Some have music, some theatre, some shopping, some entertainment, scenery, business/office space... Famous streets are iconic for those cities and tend to represent what those cities have to offer.  I imagine that Beale's character is similar to Bourbon's in that it is filled with bars, music and food; mixed with a bit of  tourist shopping that you might find on Denver's 16th Street Mall.  If that street ramble made you curious about other famous streets, you can test this neat quiz I found.  (I missed 3!)


We will try to visit many of the city's sites in the few days we have there.  Unfortunately, there are no shows or festivals , shows or concerts that weekend.  I imagine that there will be plenty of music all around.  and I did find that a local folk rock group is playing at the a folkart center.  I listened to Star & Micey enough to possibly go to this show... I just have to see if my mom would be interested.  The have an upbeat folk rock feel - they kinda remind me of a mello CarbonLeaf.

Looks like we should head to the Memphis Zoo (since the zoo and aquarium are co-located).  The art museum (with a special exhibit on their McCall Purchase scandal), civil rights history museum, the pyramid in the middle of the city... looks like we have a full weekend ahead of us.

If anyone has recommendations, please let me know!